


Beneath the ashes

by RosisZegeek



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Danger, Established Relationship, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gay Panic, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Survival
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2019-05-27
Packaged: 2020-03-20 12:40:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,970
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18992854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosisZegeek/pseuds/RosisZegeek
Summary: No one is permitted to leave the sectioned off quarantine zones across Detroit to prevent further widespread of their current suffering epidemic.But connor and gavin need to find Hank who designs across town in his own camp zone. There plan to sneak out becomes further complicated when a mass biological attack interrupts their plans and throws Detroit into crisis.Surviving was most peoples goal, but for the duo detectives however it was all part of the job, to uncover the truth and solve the case, just who was targeting humans with an infectious disease and more importantly what could they do to stop it.





	1. It begins.

The apartment door clicked softly as the automatic lock deactivated and Connor entered through the threshold, crossing through the small hall way into the main living room.

“You’re late.” Across the room on the far side of a double seated sofa sat gavin, his arms folded and an unamused scowl on his face. Connor smiled apologetically as he approached the smaller man, kneeling gracefully before his feet as his hand reached out to take gavin’s into his own. Still smiling, he gently kissed his knuckles before resting his head on top of it.

“Forgive me my love. The work load at the precinct appears to have severely doubled with the recent decrease in human officers. I left as soon as I could.”

Gavin grumbled slightly under his breath but soon pulled his partner up onto the sofa besides him, worming his way into his arms comfortably.

“Not soon enough.” He huffed, wrapping his arms around the androids waist so they were tangled up in a close embrace. “The cats missed you. I think their getting sick of being trapped in this stupid apartment all damn day, every day.”

Connor hummed. “Then it’s a good thing they’ve got you here to distract them.”

Gavin grunted and slouched in his partners arms. “ _I’m_ getting sick of this damn apartment.” Gavin added, frustrated with seeing the same four walls day in day out. He didn’t like being held in one place for so long. It felt confining to be limited to such a small scene endlessly.

“In that case" Connor began, shifting his gaze downwards to meet gavins with hooded eyes, a playful smirk pulling at his lips. “It’s a good thing I’m here, to distract you.” Tilting his head down gently he allowed the warmth of his artificial breath to ghost against the shell of gavin's ear. His lips grazing ever so faintly across the cartilage, and slowly making it’s way down his cheek bone, though never fully meeting. Gavin huffed, face hot and starting to flush a light shade of pink. Just as Connor’s lips brushed against the corner of his own, he scoffed and pushed his smug looking face away.

“Nice try con but you’re not off the hook that easily.” He said, smirking at the androids dumb founded expression.

“It was worth a shot.” Connor admitted with a sigh, sitting back up in his seat. A comfortable silence fell between them and laced the late evening air, the only sound being their shallow breathes and the background rumble of the kitchen refrigerator. The light from the muted television flickered in the dimly lit living room as the contents it displayed went unnoticed. It was peaceful.

“So...any news on this shit storm of a situation...has the captain decide when I can come back to work yet?” Gavin asked, breaking the silence. Connor’s Led circled yellow a few times before settling back on a calm blue.

“Unfortunately not. It’s believed the current virus epidemic is only going to get worse as the wide spread extends beyond Detroit. If things continue at the rate they currently are then the government will be forced to lock down the city as a whole.” Connor answered sincerely. “regardless, I fear its unlikely you’ll be returning to work any time soon my love. You...along with the many other humans who may or may not have fallen victim to the virus.” Connor added, raising his hands to softly pet gavin’s hair in soothing circles. The smaller detective released a long agitated sigh, muttering curses beneath his breath.

“Fucking great, just....fucking great. I can’t believe this is actually fucking happening. I swear if I have to spend one more day in this bloody apartment I’m gonna god damn lose it.” Gavin hissed. Connor continued his actions of petting gavin’s hair soothingly, comforting him.

“Biologists working on developing a vaccine made a public statement suggesting that there is no identifiable correlation between the strands of virus tested on those infected and those who appear naturally immune. The genetics determining the effects of the infection over the human body seem to be eluding scientists due to its erratic and unpredictable nature.” Connor explained.

“Meaning?” Gavin asked blankly.

“The virus is unknown, unidentifiable. We don’t know where it’s from or what attracts it to certain individuals. Meanwhile others may come into contact with it yet not become tainted themselves. It hard to fight something in which its origins and cause are unknown.” Connor elaborated.

“But I’m not sick.” Gavin stated.

“Exactly. The virus seems to target specific humans for some shared unique quality they all poses. You along with the other humans who are not infected, appear to be outliers. What ever organism it is that attracts the virus doesn’t seem to be featured in your DNA. So far the most information researchers have gathered is that one in six humans fall victim to infection. ”

“Huh. Well...infected or not infected, it doesn’t really fucking matter. We’re all trapped inside our own homes like rats, regardless.” He groaned.

“I’m afraid so.” Connor frowned at the reality of the situation.

“Fucking ‘quarantine zone’ my ass, if I’m immune I don’t see why I can’t leave the damn house...not like I’m at risk of infection or anything.” Gavin argued, all ready fed up with it all.

“Until the risks of the virus are identified it’s not safe for anyone to actively come into contact with it, weather or not they appear unable to contract it.” Connor stated carefully. Gavin only exhailed heavily, slouching in his seat.

“Well at least there’s one good thing that comes from all this bullshit.” Gavin began. Connor looked over at him curiously. “Just goes to show how fucked we’d all be without androids.” Gavin admitted with a smirk. Connor chuckled slightly as he smiled down at his boyfriend. Oh, how far he has come since they first met prior to the revolution. Back when connor was merely a machine. “That and you fuckers are lucky you ain’t as venerable to stupid diseases as we are...” he trailed off.

“You aren’t wrong. Without androids to temporarily operate the city, there would be chaos. There’d be no power to start, since around eighty percent of energy is generated through the manual labour of burning fossil fuels. There would be no way to operate water gating systems and underground subways need to be regularly pumped to ensure protection against water leakage into tunnels, and those pumps need to be activated and monitored by people, since they cant run automatically. Overall without enforced labour of some kind may it be android or human...the city would cease to function optimally.”

“Fucking hell...” Gavin said, shaking his head.

“Worry not gav, I’m sure this situation will all be resolved soon enough. Statistically speaking, the high peak of the widespread is over and so long as humans remain quarantined it should die off rather quickly.”

“If you say so con.”

“I do. Now are you hungry? I can make you something.” Connor asked, changing the subject to something lighter.

“You wanna make me dinner?” Gavin asked playfully.

“If you’d like.” Came his curt reply. Just as connor moved to stand up from his place on the sofa in search of the kitchen, gavin twisted his body around and moved to straddle connor’s thighs, pushing him back into the seat of the sofa.

“Now that you mention it...I am a little peckish.” Gavin said, sly smirk pulling at his lips. Connor mirrored his expression, but said nothing as he moved in to consume his lover lips, his arms wrapping around the smaller man’s neck holding him closer.

**Bannnng!**

“The fuck was that!” Gavin exclaimed, jumping back slightly. Turning around in a speedy motion, he scrambled off Connors lap and headed straight for the window. Drawing back the curtains revealed bright angry flames burning the sky as back ash flew within it like a cloud of smoke. The midnight sky flared up in colour as a series of sirens and car alarms could be heard blaring off into the distance. 

“Holy shit!”

“Holy shit indeed.” Connor said joining his partners side at the window.

The television cut to static, the gravely glitctching visuals condemning the room to dingy grey. The lights began to flicker as they slowly dimmed. Before they even realied the power had cut out completely, the sound of a fuse blowing out was all that could be heard echoing through the room. The only light left was that of the deep red glow of Connor's Led. 

"Dont suppose you forgot to pay the electricity bill con?" Gavin joked to keep himself from panic. 

Connor only started blankly at him, his unimpressed glare enhanced by the harsh red casted from his forehead. Turning his attention back to the window thay reveled lights upon lights that once filled the city, now softly blinking out of existence, block by block.

"Yeah you're right, Androids don't forget do they?" He couldn't help but add, as he watched distracted as the view of the city bellow his high rise appartment faded from existence into the depths of the night. 

"Gavin?"

"Yeah?" 

"Shut up." Connor said, taking gavin's hand in his own and squeezing it possessively.


	2. Just what the hell is going on

" _Authorities demand that civilians remain inside at all times. Down town Detroit has been sectioned off causing severe east bound traffic jams, and those trying to escape the centre of the attack are being held still with no outside transport available due to the extreme road blocks. Abandoned vehicles from those injured or worse serve as forced barriers to local receiving hospital, meanwhile Henry Ford hospital struggles immensely with an overflow of both infected and injured civilians. Government officials have the city on a stage five lockdown and have implemented emergency state procedures to help safeguard against another biological warfare attack.”_

The news reporter sounded relatively calm despite the intensity of the situation she announced. Gavin and connor sat by the window watching the distant flashing lights from the main city not far from their apartment complex. Smoke and fire still filled the air and helicopters flew past every few minutes, accompanied by the sounds of emergency sirens from cop cars and ambulances heading towards the city, but probably not bypassing the road blocks that stretched for miles. Most communication outlets where down so connor had to try and boost the network connecting to the apartments dish to be able to pick up the emergency frequency channels and tune in to find out just what the hell was going on. So they now sat by the window in an attempt to keep close to the roofs aerial connector.

_"Reports coming in from across the nation state that the current epidemic has spread beyond America, now targeting other great capitals such as London, England and Paris, France. Stretching as far as Moscow, Russia and Kazakhstan. So far the only connection made between the frequented attacks are the areas in which the biological explosives have been strategically impacting. Areas in which Cyberlife warehouses and factories once flourished are being targeted for unknown reasons across the world. The attackers intentions remain unknown and their identities anonymous. Their actions display qualities that suggest they are well organised and are not without a purpose end game. Please remain calm and safe within your homes until armed guard have more details on the current crisis.”_

_“_ Fuck. We should be out there!” Gavin announced, standing from his place by the window and moving to pace back and forth. Connor watched him with carefully eyes, unable to move from his spot by the window least the connection he assisted fell weak, and a sa result they would loose their only sourse available allowing them to follow the crisis situated in the city.

“And do what exactly?” Connor asked carefully. “No one outside of town has any accessibility to where the incident resigns. Even emergency services are halted in their efforts to enter.”

“We’re fucking cops! We’ve got to do something...half the city is sick and the other half are either shackled up at home or caught in that shit storm.” Gavin answered as he continued pacing the room.

“I agree, though we couldn’t help any with the lack of insight we currently posses.” Connor replied calmly.

“Yeah but-" Gavin began but the android cut him off quickly.

“We’ll hold out until the situation becomes clearer to us all. The very fact that the precinct hasn’t made contact with either of us by now to call for any sort of back up is worrying, but proof enough that there isn’t much contact available outside of emergencies frequencies. What ever is happening has disrupted all channels and devises available to even myself. Whether or not that was a planned cause by those attacking, I have no idea but my guess would be in the affirmative.” Connor said, now standing and holding gavin’s face in his own.

“So what...we just sit here on our arses and do fuck all?”

“This might not be all there is too come my love. Should we diverse from our current position on foolish impulse then we would only endanger our selves to the extremities that may have yet to take place. Besides exposing yourself to the infectious air would only render you un-serviceable.” Connor explained. Gavin took a moment to think on what his partner had said before he opened his mouth to reply.

“Do you think this virus epidemic could be caused by the same fuckers who’s dropping infectious bio bombs across the world?” Gavin asked, his years of running on detective instincts taking over.

“I haven’t the foggiest.” Connor answered honestly. “The news was that the assailants are targeting cities not at the heart, but where cyberlife foundations resign...how this relates to infecting humans makes little sense. Androids are the ones affiliated with cyberlife so why attack using a weapon that is only harmful to humans?”

“Hell if I know.” Gavin answered though he knew the android wasn’t actually asking him. Connor remained silent while, sitting down again. His Led whirled a radiant yellow as it spun every now and then. Thinking. The detective sat besides him and took the initiative to place his hand on Connor’s thigh. Comforting. With the added stress of all this fucked up mess on top of the previous situation, he only now stopped to think about how Connor was being affected.

“You’re worried about him aren’t you?” he asked softly. Connor’s led blinked red, only for a moment before returning to a dizzying yellow. He lowered his gaze to the floor. “Anderson is fine, con. That old bastard is tougher then he looks, plus he’s older and Uh...wiser and all that shit? So he’s probably all but worrying more over you then any of this stuff.” He said as soothingly as possible. Comfort in verbal format never was his strong suite but he was trying damn it!

“I’m not sure that’s reassuring, gavin. Hank stressing over my welfare will only cause unnecessary high blood pressure. I’m completely fine after all. I only wish I could contact him and have him comforted by this knowledge.” Connor admitted sadly.

“Well...it’s not like he was in the city when this all went down so that’s a relief if any. He was holding out in his own home after his section was the last to be quarantined weren’t he?” Gavin said, rubbing his chin in thought. Connor nodded, already knowing where this conversation was leading.

“Our side of town hasn’t been impacted too severely by the blow...surely if we’re careful we could make it across to Hanks without much trouble.” Gavin summarised. Connor shook his head and sighed.

“What do you mean ‘we’? The quarantine placement hasn’t been lifted and you’re still not permitted to leave this apartment let alone travel to another zone without either being caught or contracting an infection, especially now that higher levels of intensity caused by the bio attack have become more prominent.” Connor said, making no room for argument, though Gavin Reed wouldn’t give up so easily.

“We already established that I’m hardly at risk of getting sick, con...besides you think with the current crisis anyone’s focus would be on gate jumpers?” Gavin said shaking his head seriously. “Nah if anything they’d expect less resistance. What with the fears of what’s going on outside and all that.” He stated confidently. Connor took an unnecessary breath and began toying with his fingers. Probably wishing he had his coin to keep his hands busy. He still looked doubtful.

“Con...what’s the worst that could happen?” He asked rhetorically. To which connor gave him the look he knew all to well, with raised eye brows that just had _‘are you really that thick'_ written all over them. Yet disregarding the silly expression he continued, unaffected.

“You’re an android and a pretty advanced one at that. You’ve got the upper hand more so than any other person in this damn block at getting out of here undetected, but only if you go now! While you’ve got an open opportunity.” Gavin emphasised, waving his hands and pointing directly at connor.

“We might not get another chance like this.” He added, only less frantically and more encouragingly.

“Why are you so eager to put yourself in danger over this, gav? You and the lieutenant are not exactly what social protocols consider in terms of friendship, or anything even close to that.” Connor said, deflecting from the man’s increasingly good points, not allowing for them to win over his sensibility. The man did make an increasingly persuasive argument though. Gavin huffed.

“Because I care about you idiot. And believe it or not I do care about the old man too. Considering he’s practically adopted you and all that I would be hard pressed to pretend he doesn’t existence.”

Gavin took a deep breath and gave it to the android straight. “look...he’s important to you and I’d be a pretty shitty boyfriend if I just let his robo son sit here and baby sit me while he’s stuck on his own worrying about you...so yeah, at least this way I can get out of this damn apartment.” Connor smiled.

“So you’re intentions are not entirely selfless then my love?” he teased. Gavin elbowed him in the side playfully. He knew it wouldn’t hurt but the android pretended to rub at his side as if he had been effected just to humor him.

“I can’t believe I’m about to agree with you on something so obviously destructive, but...I suppose if we must be limited to confinement in only one place for RA9 knows how long before all this ends... then it might as well be final in a place larger and more bearable than this tiny apartment, with both my family. I’d fare better knowing for sure that all three of you are safe.” Connor admitted, giving in to his partners ridiculous plan.

“All three?” Gavin asked, cocking a brow.

“You, hank and sumo of course.” Connor replied with a bright smile. It being the first time gavin had seen him smile since this whole situation came to plague them.

“Of course.” He said simply, rolling his eyes but with fondness rather than distaste.

“Sooo...you ready to do this?” Gavin asked, mood switching again to something more final. Connor nodded, face suddenly serious.

“I am but not yet, if we’re going to leave you need to cover up first.” Connor said standing up and walking over to the small open kitchen.

“Aww babe, you really wanna cover up such a _pretty_ face?” Gavin joked, because of course he just couldn’t help himself. Connors lips twitches ever so slightly but he wouldn’t break so easily. He knew that from experience.

“Oh of course not my love, but there’s a matter of your lungs ingesting the spores that radiate the air. You may appear immune for now but we still know next to nothing about just what causes and contracts this virus. We shan’t be taking any chances.”

Gavin shrugged. Fair was fair. He'd seen what some intense effects of the virus caused and he did not want to end up having his face all distorted thank you very much.

“Here, use this.” The android said passing his lover a cloth from the kitchen sick cupboard.

“Didn’t know you were into this kinda stuff, con. If you wanted to gag me all you had to do was ask nicely.” He teased, continuing his pushing. What? There was a lot of built up tension with him being locked up at home all day and night okay. He’s used to a little more stimulation than this, let him have his pleasures. Connor gave gavin a stern unwavering expression in warning. Fine. Connor wanted him to be serious, he could be serious. He tied the cloth around his mouth and wrapped it around his lower head, knotting the ends at the back of his neck as though it were a make shift bandana. He was so serious he didn’t even make a comment about how stupid the blue and white chequered wash cloth looked wrapped around his face. It didn’t take long for them to prepare, equipped with the necessary tools for light travel. Gavin put the hood of his leather jacket up above his head to help shadow the DIY bandanna so it was less noticeable, it was late, and therefore dark enough that they should be able to move around undetected provided they were strategical.

Less enforcement should be monitoring the perimeter, instead focusing most their efforts into reinstating power and helping unblock main roads that lead into the city centre. The quarantine end zones that lead to outside of the sectioned off areas would remain heavily patrolled regardless, to prevent gate jumpers from leaving and transmitting possible infection. Each zone was marked off for different levels of seriousness regarding the spread of infection, zones beginning in ‘ ** _k_** ' tags were the absolute worst in terms of heavy security due to the extreme outbreak that had either killed the minority population or rendered every resident severely effected by the diseases impact. Androids could come and go between zones. They had to work outside to maintain the city as well as care for human counterparts within the quarantine sections. That’s why connor came back to gavin’s after work, he could travel between areas, since android couldn’t get sick. He sometimes visit Hank but gavin had become so angsty stuck alone in the appartment all day that connor continued to visit his boyfriend most frequently.

It was because of this the android knew the zone ‘ _ **K42**_ ' which was closest to there’s was highly infectious and should be avoided at all costs...to bad it was in their way of cutting a short cut across a high way that lead to Hank Anderson’s part of town. There was no way around the elevated highway and therefore no way to get there quickly with the blocked off quarantine section in their way. They’d have to go the long route to reach their destination without risking gavin’s well-being. They’d worry about the journeys route when the time came, however for now, sneaking out of their zone ‘ _ **V41**_ ' was the most challenging task. Once they were out, travel would be easier since little to none patrolled the uninhabited streets and land that had no quarantine zones set up throughout. Connor opened the door to the apartment using his palm to override the automatic lock once more, taking his boyfriends hand in the other.

They made it about half way through the hallway before the building shook harshly and they both bumped into the wall. Immediately exchanging looks of concern, they were further disrupted by a large impact far more powerful then the one before which forced them to be blown backwards, landing on their sides alongside each other. Crackling sounds surrounded them and continuing smaller eruptions rumbled and had the ground shaking as the explosion was hot and heavily in the air. Parts of the building were now inflamed and part of the floor ahead of them was missing. It would have gavin feeling fortunate that they’d landed where they had but the overwhelming realisation of ‘ _Oh shit, this is actually happening’_ took priority over his mind.

 _“No."_ Connor breathed, as he hauled himself off the floor, reaching out to pull the slower to move human up and check he hadn’t suffered any lasting damage or injury.

“Gavin! Are you alright love?” he all but begged, concerned. That had been one nasty blow, powerful enough to cause the walls to crumble and the ceiling and floors to tear apart. Not to mention the building was on fucking fire!

“Yeah, yeah, shit I’m fine.” Gavin said getting his teeth. He'd hit his head harshly against the wood flooring and now it ached like a bitch, but he’d live. Rubbing his head and standing on his feet, wobbling slightly from the disorientation they both examined the damage. The way they had come was completely blocked off, parts of wooden support beams and fallen concrete from above lay in a messy heap. To their left up ahead the path was clear apart from the odd flames that grew angry and larger every second it continued to suck oxygen from the air.

There was a hole in the floor but nothing they couldn’t jump. The floor around the hole was dented, cracked and looked unsecured but so long as they were quick and scrambled for solid placement they should be fine. Connor analysed the environment and calculated the likely percentage the floor would crumble once the jumped across. Forty-nine percent. Well it would have to service. Going back wasn’t an option. Going around the hole wasn’t one either since the few ledges left of floor were barely a foot wide, big enough that someone could shuffle and shimmy across sideways if they stuck like glue with their backs to the wall...but the walls themselves where far too hot to withstand after the blast, and the fire surrounding them only grew worse. With every movement the building became more unstable. They needed to move. Now!

“Forward it is then...” Gavin sighed after properly analysing the scene for himself, given that Connors sensors where much faster then the humans.

“Together?” asked the android, holding out his hand.

“Absolutely.” Grinned gavin, taking his partners hand.

“One,

two...

 **THREE**!” They called out in unison as the both took a running start and lunged forward, crossing the gap. Landing on their feet but from the force of the long jump they fell forwards, rolling over into a swallow dive that got them quickly across the weakened floor and landing safely back onto their feet to run across the rest of the hall way, parts of the floor cracking beneath their shared weight but never fully cracking open.

The elevators were an obvious no go so they headed for the stairwell, Gavin panting heavily, both from the adrenaline and the fast flowing activity. The stairs where mostly intact to their relief. They were able to safely decent the stairs and jump japs between certain platforms. They went one at a time. Connor leading and gavin following closely behind. They had only been on the third floor so they hardly had much further to go. On the second platform connor had to climb onto the railing that was twisted and bent out of place in order to jump to the other sides platform landing. The gap between the left and right made a large ‘L' shape and they wouldn’t be able to cross otherwise. He jumped off, landing on the ledge of the platform that connected to more stairs upwards and downwards where the damage became less severe. As he landed however, he had his stomach hit the dimension of the ledge, causing him to need to pull himself up with his hands to bring his long legs up and over onto it. Gavin swore under his breath.

“Shit babe, if you struggled to make that jump I don’t think I’m gonna do much better...” gavin spoke across. Heart racing and palms sweating. Connor crouched down to one knee and held his arms out stretched.

“You can do it my love. I’ve calculated the risk of you falling and its below twenty-five percent.” Connor said non to convincingly.

“You’re still a shit liar con.” Gavin grumbled before he braced himself, climbing upon the bent out hand rail bar just as connor had done and bent his knees ready to make the jump. He took a deep breath in, and he jumped like his life depended on it because, well...it did. Jumping into the ledge caused his body to hit the harsh stone and sent a wave of shocking pain coursing through his lower half. The height difference from him jumping into it meant the sheer force caused him to natually push away, falling backwards and away from the ledge, hands scrambling frantically to grab hold of something, anything before he fell. A hand reached down and grabbed him at the perfect time as Connor holstered him up with inhuman strength.

“Fuck!” Gavin gasped.

“That was fucking close.” His breathing intensified.

“I wouldn’t let you fall gavin. I’d never allow for it.” Connor said seriously. Eyes piercing into gavin’s for emphasis.

“Yeah...I know.”

They made there way down the rest of the stairs and out of the building where plenty of terrified, panicking people ran screaming. At least several other buildings in the district had suffered the same fate. Many large and small parts of the buildings falling from above as they crumbled too.

Well.

Things just got a lot more complicated.


	3. Mission: find lieutenant Anderson

Alarms where blaring. Emergency services Sirens and lights beamed through out the night sky and people ran screaming as more explosions rapidly brought surrounding apartments tumbling down. 

 _"Gavin get down!"_ Connor yelled but he knew the human wouldn't be able to react in time, so with one swift movement he grabbed his partners arm and shoved him off sideways causing him to forcefully hit the ground with a loud thud as his face made contact with the hard concrete. With speed only an android could possess, Connor lunged forward following after gavin, landing uncomfortably above his sprawled out body on the floor just as a tone of scalp metal and broken panes all aflame came crashing down from the appartment they had just fled. 

"Phuck!" Gavin gasped painfully, his ears were ringing from the impact of the fall mixed with the loud crashes and bangs from surrounding explosions. His vision was blurry and faded in and out as he tried easing his way up onto his elbows. There was a heavy weight pulling at his lower half. It took him a moment but slowly his senses came back to him and his sight focused on the familiar face laying over his thighs. LED cycling a deep red. 

"CONNOR!" He yelled, sitting up fully and reaching out to pat the androids cheek and rouse him from his balckout "Come on tin can, get up we gotta go!"

Behind them lights and fires continued to flare, and soldiers began filling in trying to regain control of the situation. Above the sounds of screaming and blaring sirens could be heared the emergency alarms enforced by the speakers placed all around the enclosed perimeter.

_"All personnel, please abanand quarantine. Evacuation zones are located by sector entrances."_

"Fucking hell...Come on Con, you stupid plastic just wake up!" 

 _"All personnel, please abanand quarantine."_ Repeated the alarm tone causing gavin to hiss, anxiously turning his attention back to Connor.

The androids LED swirled yellow, red, yellow, red as various electronic bleeping sounds could be heard. Finally his boyfriends LED settled on blue and his eyes fluttered open a few times as he came too.

"Gavin! Oh thank RA9 you're okay." He sighed in relief as he moved to get off gavin, extending a hand to hawl the smaller detective up. 

"Yeah." Gavin replied breathing heavily. "The fuck is going on?"

_"All personnel, please abanand quarantine."_

"I-I'm not sure, we'll have to figure that out in time, but I know we've got to go, now!" Connor insisted taking his boyfriends hand and pulling him along. 

"Where are you going dipshit? We've gotta get to the gates, they're the only way out." Gavin said, pulling back on Connors hand to try and dissuade him from his current direction, and pull him towards the evac point. 

"No we can't, we'll get caught in lock down! We've got to get to Hank." 

"Connor theres bombs and shit going off we can't just-" 

"Please Gavin." Connor pleaded. Gavin couldn't resist.

"Fuck...fine." Gavin agreed. 

"Thank you, thank you my love." Connor replied, lighting up like a kid at Christmas. "Come on, this is our chance to leave without being noticed." Connor insisted as he continued his earlier actions of pulling gavin away from the scene surrounding them.

"Okay whatever, how the fuck do you suggest we get out of here. The only way out is the main gate and we apparently can't go there without getting locked down in some fucking emergency sector, so what do we do?" Gavin demanded impatiently. 

"The church." Connor said eyebrows raising in realisation. Gavin huffed.

"You really think nows the right time to go praying to robo jesus?" Gavin asked sarcastically. 

"No gavin, the church." Connor said pointing in its direction as if that made his point any more obvious. "Acording to androids I've interfaced with, gate jumpers where using it a discrete smuggling route to bring in additional food rations...there has to be a passage inside the church that the smugglers were utilising to bring in supplies." 

"Fuck...I hope you're right. Fine, come on let's go." 

More explosions continued to go off in the distance and the ground shook beneath them. Holding on to each other dearly they ran in the opposite direction of fleeing civilians, heading towards the church located on the outskirts of the estate.

~~~~~~

Making it to the church proved harder than initially though. Guards were continuously being deployed and positioned all acorss the landscape, as they tried to direct panicking civilians towards the main gates. They kept low and stuck to the shadows of night. Though that in itself was hard enough with buildings falling apart all around them and fire latching on to nearly every ally way and every building in sight. But they managed and they made it to the church safely and undetected. 

Entering the church through the main doors, they searched around the hall for some sort of exit or trap door that smugglers would have used to bring in their supplies, that is if they where at all. 

"What are we looking for exactly?" Gavin said standing up from the spot he was crouched by, an open vent in the ground which he investigated in hopes that it was the 'secret entrance' connor had mentioned. No secret entrance though, just dirt and soot. Gross.

"I cant say for sure. We'll just have to keep looking until we find something." Connor replied while going about his own exploration, pulling out some sort of religious artifact in a display case and analysing it curiously. "At least it should be educational." He added with a smirk, one all to relaxed for someone trying to escape possible confinement with only a limited amount of time remaining. 

"Well let's see what the fuck we can find shall we." Gavin supplied blankly. 

They continued searching for a while longer until connor came across a fancy curtain hanging high from the ceiling that was hiding a wooden door behind it. 

"Huh..." Gavin said dumbly as connor tugged and pulled down the curtain with a loud tearing sound, fully revealing the concealed door. 

"You think that's it?" Gavin asked, folding his arms acorss his chest tightly. 

"Prehaps. It's not locked." Connor pointed out, opening the door slightly. 

"Tsk, criminals these days, am I right?" He said shaking his head. Connor pressed his lips into a thin line and opened the door further, sneaking a look inside. 

"Stairs. Leading down." Connor pointed out.

"Great detective skills sherlock, state of the art fucking observation skills indeed." Gavin said with no real spite.

"I'd say we've found our exit...come on." 

Gavin said nothing. He only complied, trusting his android to lead the way.

As they descended the stairs that winded down in a  clockwise spiral they quickly realised the stairwell had no lighting, and the further they climbed the further away from the light within the upstairs eliminated their path. Connors soft glow of his LED soon became the only source of light present, which gavin took as his cue to pull out his trusted phone from his back pocket and use the light to Brighton the small dark space. Connor offered him a single nood in approval. 

Once they reached the end of the stairwell they found themselves in a less sculpted room, with uneven bricks and dirt flooring making up the architecture. The room had only one direction visible, a long tall tunnel leading straight in design, it winding down and down for as far as they both could make out, it was dark, too dark to see how long it ran for but they had the light from gavin's phone to lead the way.

"Gav, how much battery does your phone have?"

"Uh...seventy eight." Gavin said, checking the drop down bar. 

"Hm. How convenient." 

"This ain't a cheesy horror movie con, my phone ain't gonna die in some cliché way as we blindly head down the path to our impending doom." Gavin stated dramatically. 

"Yes that would be rather regrettable, wouldn't it?" Connor agreed playfully. 

They made their way down the bridge like tunnel slowly and cautiously. It wasnt very long before they felt the walls shake and heared crackling from above. 

"Damn it." Gavin cursed and Connors LED whired yellow, red, yellow.

"It would seem we're running out of time. They're targeting the church now. We need to move quickly." Connor said picking up the pase of his walking.

"It can effect us all the way down here though, right?" Gavina asked sheepishly.

"The building above is sturdy but it's also very old, scans indicate the contents of the cobble used to creat this building date back to the early seventeenth century." Connor began.

"And down here?" Gavin asked, though he wasn't sure hed like the answer.

"This tunnel is not part of the churches original design. Theres no mention of it anywhere in constructional blue prints but...if the building above collapses in full, I'd estimate that the weight of rubble would be enough to crack the foundation."

"Yeah...uh, what does thay mean?" 

"The tunnel would become submerged in water, not fully but enough so that the pressure would further the damage and weaken the ridges holding the over ceal together." Connor explained.

"Fucking great." Gavin grumbled, also picking up the pase a little more motivated now. 

The walls contined to shake and rumble. The vibrations growing louder and stronger with every passing moment. As they continued walking it became colder, and damper. Faint sounds of dripping water could be heared distantly. The closer they came to the end the louder the water sounds seemed to grow. They reached the end of the tunnel as it dipped down into small crawl space with an open gap, light breching through, a clear indicator of what lie beyond. The outside. 

Gavin and connor both stepped down into the dip only to be immediately startled by the soggy wet feeling of water soaking their legs from the anckle down. There was water filling in through the gap, trickling down like a natual waterfall. 

"Just gets better and better." Gavin mumbled upon realising what came next.

"I take it that means you dont want to go first then?" Connor teased. 

"Har har, tin can. We'll see who's laughing soon enough wont we." Gavin said pushing ahead and lying on his back under the gap, raising his legs to lift and role through the crawl space.

Connor smiled and followed suit, rowling through the gap just as the human had done. A hand took hold of his and gavin helped to pull him to his feet. 

"Well...looks like you where right con. That tunnel lead right underneath the wall that fenced us all into the quarantine zone. Though you failed to predict that it would lead us right into a fucking mote..." gavin moaned half heartedly. 

"I apologise my love. All that matters now is that we can make it to lieutenant Anderson's safely." 

"Uh, sure. Whatever. How far we gonna have to walk to get there?"

"Twelve miles south of here...should get us there just before dawn." Connor stated.

"Ugh...the things I do for you connie. Well, come on then, the quicker we get there the quicker I can rest my bloody legs." The human complained. 

Connor smiled at gavin devilishly. Like he knew something the detective didn't. 

"What?" Gavin demanded.

"Forget walking. I've got a better idea." 

"Uh huh...Care to elaborate robo cop?" 

"I parked the DPD's squad car down on rauling road on my way back from the precinct. Vehicles were not permitted within the quarantine zones so I had to park a block or so away from the main gate. We can make our way around the perimeter undetected and use the car to drive to the lieutenants."

"Alright. Sounds like a plan. Beats walking anyway." Gavin shrugged. Connor smiled and kissed him on the cheek. 

"Let's go my love." 

 

 


End file.
